Politics

Rishi Sunak has pledged to introduce a temporary £10 fine for NHS patients who fail to attend a GP appointment as he tries to bridge the gap with Liz Truss in the Tory leadership race. The former chancellor acknowledged he is “playing catch-up” to the foreign secretary in the battle to become the next prime

Tom Tugendhat has admitted foreign secretary “would be a fantastic job to do” – but insisted Tory leadership frontrunner Liz Truss has made him no promises. Mr Tugendhat, who also stood as a candidate to take over from Boris Johnson, is the latest senior Tory MP to back Ms Truss over Rishi Sunak. Mr Tugendhat

Summer getaways and weekend plans could be severely disrupted today during a fresh round of rail strikes – with an “amber traffic warning” also in force on the roads. The Aslef union says train drivers at seven rail companies are staging a 24-hour walkout in a dispute over pay, and there are fears millions of

Former Tory leadership contender Tom Tugendhat has endorsed Liz Truss in the race to be prime minister, in a huge blow to Rishi Sunak. Writing in The Times, Mr Tugendhat said that the foreign secretary’s promises of tax cuts are based on “true Conservative principles” and that she can unite the party. He said: “Liz

Defence Secretary Ben Wallace has revealed his support for cabinet colleague Liz Truss in the Tory leadership race. Mr Wallace described Ms Truss as “authentic, honest and experienced”, and with having “integrity” for the top job. The defence secretary, who was himself widely tipped to become the next Conservative Party leader before ruling himself out

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer has said one of his shadow ministers was sacked yesterday for making up policy “on the hoof” as he stood on a picket line during rail strikes. Sam Tarry was dismissed from his role as a junior shadow transport minister after he disobeyed orders for frontbench Labour MPs to not

Senior Labour MP John McDonnell says he supports a general strike and criticised Sir Keir Starmer for sacking a junior minister after he stood on the picket line during yesterday’s rail strike. Mr McDonnell, who was shadow chancellor under Jeremy Corbyn, told Sky News the Labour Party should be supporting the strikes as rail workers

A Labour MP has been removed from the party’s frontbench by Sir Keir Starmer after giving a TV interview on the picket line during a rail strike. Sam Tarry, the MP for Ilford South and shadow transport minister, was this morning at Euston station along with rail workers taking industrial action over pay and conditions.

Tonight’s Conservative Party leadership debate between Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak was halted after presenter Kate McCann fainted during the live broadcast. Ms Truss held her hands to her face and said “oh my God” after a loud crash was heard – and then the contest was taken off air. TalkTV said Ms McCann is

Rishi Sunak has announced a plan to scrap VAT on energy bills – a significant U-turn on his previous pledge not to make any immediate tax cuts. The former chancellor said that if he becomes prime minister he would implement the temporary measure to save the average household £160. It marks a notable change of

Public spending in the north has fallen behind the England average despite the government’s flagship “levelling up” agenda, according to a new think tank analysis. IPPR North – a branch of the Institute for Public Policy Research – said that, despite Boris Johnson’s repeated pledges to level up the country, “money simply hasn’t followed the

Sir Keir Starmer has suggested Labour would drop its pledge to renationalise the railways, despite repeated promises to do so. The Labour leader insisted he took a “pragmatic” approach when asked about whether he would place rail, energy and water companies back under public ownership. His view appears to have changed since he became leader

The two remaining Tory leadership candidates have vowed to continue the government’s controversial scheme to send asylum seekers to Rwanda. While former chancellor Rishi Sunak said he would do “whatever it takes” for the current policy to work, Foreign Secretary Liz Truss said she would expand it to other countries. They both said they would

The battle to be the next leader of the Conservative Party – and prime minister of the United Kingdom – continued on Saturday. Rishi Sunak gave a speech in Margaret Thatcher’s home town of Grantham setting out his stall to Tory party members, framing himself as an “underdog”. Meanwhile, Liz Truss blamed France for issues

By September the UK will have its fourth Conservative prime minister in a row. Of these only David Cameron was chosen by the wider British electorate by leading his party to victory in a general election. Theresa May, Boris Johnson and Rishi Sunak or Liz Truss will have made it to Number 10 thanks to

Boris Johnson visited Yorkshire this week to meet Ukrainian soldiers being trained in the UK – and new pictures show the prime minister throwing a grenade and using some of the equipment. The UK’s armed forces are training groups of Ukrainians as part of the support being provided following Russia’s invasion. Mr Johnson, who announced

Rishi Sunak and Liz Truss are ramping up their campaigns for the Conservative leadership this weekend, announcing new policies to tackle NHS backlogs and scrap EU laws if they become prime minister. First up, the former chancellor, who will promise to make cutting NHS waiting lists his “number one public service priority” if he wins

Sky News’ political editor Beth Rigby’s looking at the final two candidates for the Conservative party leadership on her last podcast before a summer break. As well as assessing the chances for Rishi Sunak and Liz Truss, she sits down with Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer to discuss his image, being investigated for a potential

Sir Keir Starmer has revealed he “hated” being subject to a criminal investigation over beergate and the potential breach of COVID rules, and that waiting to hear if he would be exonerated was a “burden every day”. In an interview with Sky News’ Beth Rigby interviews programme, the Labour leader opened up about the moment

Body language expert Judi James has offered a fascinating insight into the mannerisms of Rishi Sunak and Liz Truss – and the issues they need to address in order to convince people they should be the next prime minister. She said Mr Sunak is “smart, slick, always using Tony Blair’s gesticulation, we get the thumb

The final two runners in the race to be the next prime minister will begin a summer of campaigning today in an effort to convince Conservative party members they are the right candidate for the job. Former Chancellor Rishi Sunak and Foreign Secretary Liz Truss made it onto the ballot paper on Wednesday after their

Tory leadership candidates Rishi Sunak and Liz Truss have agreed to take part in a head-to-head debate on Sky News. The event – which will be in front of a live audience – will be on Thursday 4 August at 8pm and is to be hosted by Kay Burley. John Ryley, head of Sky News,

The final two candidates in the Conservative leadership contest will be decided today as the hopefuls edge closer to the top job – and Downing Street. Three runners remain in the race – Rishi Sunak, Penny Mordaunt and Liz Truss – after Kemi Badenoch was knocked out of the competition on Tuesday. They will face

Kemi Badenoch has become the latest candidate to be knocked out of the Conservative leadership race. In the fourth round of voting by Tory MPs, the contenders received the following support: Kemi Badenoch – 59 Penny Mordaunt – 92 Rishi Sunak – 118 Liz Truss – 86 There was one spoiled ballot paper and one

When Rishi Sunak resigned as chancellor – minutes after Health Secretary Sajid Javid left his role – it prompted a raft of senior figures to follow him out the door in protest over Boris Johnson’s leadership. But while some praised him for doing the “honourable thing” by stabbing Mr Johnson “in the front” and many

The last four runners in the Conservative leadership contest will face another round of voting later, as the party decides who will replace Boris Johnson in Downing Street. Rishi Sunak, Penny Mordaunt, Liz Truss and Kemi Badenoch made it through Monday’s ballot to continue in the race, while Tom Tugendhat was knocked out. But as

Tom Tugendhat has become the latest candidate to be knocked out of the Conservative leadership race. In the third round of voting by Tory MPs, the contenders received the following votes: Kemi Badenoch, 58 Penny Mordaunt, 82 Rishi Sunak, 115 Liz Truss, 71 Mr Tugendhat, 31 Politics Hub: New favourite to be PM after latest

Former chancellor Rishi Sunak and Foreign Secretary Liz Truss engaged in bad-tempered exchanges as the five remaining Conservative leadership rivals faced off in the second televised debate. In a stand-out moment of the debate, all the candidates refused to put their hand up when asked if they would give Boris Johnson a job in their

A former leader of the Conservative Party has criticised Rishi Sunak’s approach to the economy, accusing the former chancellor of fuelling inflation. Speaking to Sky News’ Sophy Ridge on Sunday programme, Liz Truss backer Sir Iain Duncan Smith said the Treasury, overseen by Mr Sunak, has demonstrated a “failure” of monetary policy. Sir Iain continued:

Rishi Sunak has vowed to scrap hundreds of remaining EU laws and regulations if he triumphs in the Tory leadership race, as Penny Mordaunt faces scrutiny for her views on trans rights. In a fresh pitch to win over Brexiteers, the former chancellor promised to appoint a Brexit minister to comb through the remaining 2,400

The final five candidates in the Conservative leadership race have clashed over their tax plans in a fiery first TV debate. While former Chancellor Rishi Sunak dismissed tax cut pledges by his rivals as an “unfunded spree of borrowing and more debt”, Foreign Secretary Liz Truss hit back, saying: “You cannot tax your way to

It’s the end of the first week into the Tory leadership race, and five hopefuls remain in the running to be the country’s next prime minister. Rishi Sunak, Penny Mordaunt, Liz Truss, Kemi Badenoch and Tom Tugendhat are battling it out to take over from Boris Johnson after securing a large enough backing during the

Penny Mordaunt has said fellow Conservative leadership candidates are trying to stop her from getting to the final round of the contest because she is who they most fear competing against head-to-head. Tory leadership favourite Ms Mordaunt told Sky News’ political editor Beth Rigby that she is “running a positive campaign” and warned her fellow